Paris 2024: Lasting legacy as Paris says goodbye

Paris is ready to sign off, having witnessed more than 15,000 athletes competing across 45 days of official competition between the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

With the organising committee pumping more than €3.4 billion into Paris 2024, value-for-money judgements will have to wait, but from an organisational perspective, there can be few complaints.

The French capital has been transformed into a sporting hub, with a logistical ease for athletes, fans and media alike in getting to multiple venues. The army of 45,000 volunteers have added greatly to the positive atmosphere at the various events, while local buy-in is evident in the fact that around 90% of the Paralympic tickets sold have been to French buyers.

The final sales tally lies somewhere in and around 2.5 million tickets, just short of the London Games.

By most other metrics however, the Para movement is going in only one direction, with visibility the key component.

More than 160 countries and territories broadcast the Games, with the overall revenue raised from media rights sales seeing a 20% increase compared to Tokyo 2020.

RTÉ broadcast 104 hours of TV coverage, compared to five hours at London 2012.

With Los Angeles and Brisbane the next to host the Games, Paris offers a more convenient location for a travelling Irish contingent, with hordes of Irish supporters descending on Stade de France, La Defense Arena, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome in significant numbers to cheer on our 35 athletes.

Team Ireland will reflect on a Games that delivered the lowest medal return since 2008, the half a dozen medals short of the stated target of between eight and 10.

Katie-George Dunlevy continued her dominance in both road and track